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her bedroom with an airy promise that she would be quick.
    Jane then started down the stairs to await her friend in the hall.
    Emily was right about Minshom. He could be incredibly
    charismatic when he wanted to, and hard to resist. Perhaps she
    and David had more in common than she realized. And what
    about Anthony Sokorvsky? What was it about him that had
    finally made Minshom create such a scandal?
    «My lady?»
    Jane thanked the footman who helped her into her pelisse and
    sat down to wait for Emily in the cold emptiness of the ground-
    floor entrance hall. Knowing her fashionable friend, it might take
    a while, but it wasn’t as if she didn’t have plenty to think about.
    She hadn’t agreed to Blaize’s suggestion that she go out with
    him to his favorite brothel, had countered with a suggestion of
    her own and he’d stormed out. Should she accept his challenge
    and find out whether all the gossip was true? It might help her
    come to a decision about what to do next. Perhaps her dreams of
    reconciliation needed to be crushed and a new, starker reality
    faced.
    She curled her fingers inside her soft kid gloves until the tips
    of her fingers touched her palm. Just because she had changed
    didn’t mean Blaize had too. In truth, the changes she had seen in
    him so far had only increased her anxiety about her chances of
    success.
    She stared blankly at the dim, unrecognizable landscape
    painting over the white marble mantelpiece. But what was worse?
    Staying home, hiding from her true self, afraid to face what must
    SIMPLY INSATIABLE / 29
    be done, or taking a stand and negotiating for a new future?
    She’d once defied her entire family to marry Minshom. Where
    had that fire gone? If she wanted him back, she’d have to risk his
    ire, his contempt, his indifference. She’d have to risk everything...
    «Are you ready, Jane?»
    She looked up and saw Emily coming down the stairs toward
    her wearing a short brown spencer jacket over her yellow dress
    and a dashing French bonnet with dyed ostrich feathers.
    «Did Madame Wallace make that jacket for you?»
    «She did. Do you like it?»
    «Very much.» Longingly, Jane eyed the height of the feathers.
    «What about the bonnet?»
    «Now that was made by Julianne DeFleur, who just happens
    to have a shop on the same street as madame. Isn’t that
    convenient?»
    «Indeed it is.» Jane smiled broadly at her friend and prepared
    to forget about Minshom for a while and simply enjoy herself.
    «Shall we go?»
    «I’m already looking forward to it. Spending someone else’s
    money is always a pleasure, especially when it’s Minshom’s.»
    Emily nodded at the butler who opened the door for them
    and they stepped into the watery sunlight. Jane tried to picture
    her husband’s face as the bills started to roll in. She had no doubt
    that he’d feel obliged to talk to her then.
    30 / Kate Pearce

4
    «What the devil is going on?»
    Minshom glared at Robert, who was adding another set of
    tradesmen’s bills to the stack already in front of him.
    «I assume her ladyship is doing some shopping.»
    «Some shopping? She appears to be buying up half of London
    and she’s only been here a week.» He glanced impatiently back at
    the door. «Where is she—is she here?»
    «I believe she was just about to go out with Lady Millhaven.
    Would you like me to check, sir?»
    «Don’t ‘check’—tell her to come right in here and explain
    herself.»
    Robert bowed. «I’ll certainly ask her if she is able to
    accommodate you, my lord, but I hardly think it is my place to
    threaten her.»
    Minshom scowled. «Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that part.
    You just go and fetch her.»
    He waited, fingers drumming on his desk until he heard light
    footsteps in the hall beyond.
    «You wanted to see me, my lord?»
    He barely glanced at her but still caught the scent of lavender
    soap. «Sit down.»
    «When you issue commands in that tone of voice, I think I’d
    prefer to stand. It makes escaping so